


A Simple Answer

by Florence2410UK



Series: Caldos [4]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: The Next Generation (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 19:44:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4637901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Florence2410UK/pseuds/Florence2410UK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their idyllic time on Caldos is coming to an end and Beverly and Jean Luc must make a decision about the future.</p><p>Final instalment in my Caldos series. Please read Leaving Caldos, Return to Caldos and Morning Light on Caldos first in that order. </p><p>If you've read it when it was first posted then I have added a bit as on re reading it I thought it needed a bit more to really finish it off and perhaps give a glimpse into what the future might hold for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Simple Answer

**Author's Note:**

> As always leave feedback, I like to know what you think. Good or bad it's all helpful. 
> 
> Keep it constructive though.

In the end they had stayed longer on Caldos than they had intended, both reluctant to leave to return to their respective duties. Beverly had asked for more time to sort out her grandmother’s affairs, Jean Luc had weeks of accrued leave that he had never taken, so they had taken the decision to stay. The few extra days they had spent together here in this remote corner of the galaxy had been idyllic. They had slipped very easily into their roles as lovers and neither could quite believe that they had wasted so much time and effort resisting the inevitable for so long. They walked, they swam, they read, they talked, they cooked and ate together and above all they loved. The days and nights blended together seamlessly as they revelled in each other’s company. However, Beverly knew that now they had to face up to their responsibilities and think about the future and returning.

It wasn’t going to be easy. Beverly had a new job based on Earth and soon The Enterprise was due to leave space dock for several months of deep space travel. Beverly had been left behind too often before when she had been married to Jack. In truth they had spent more time apart than together in the few short years they were married. She did not want that for her and Jean Luc, they had wasted too many years already.

They had not talked about the future in any concrete way. They had both been avoiding the inevitable difficult conversation. Jean Luc was an explorer at heart. He would never be happy behind a desk. Being with him meant roaming the galaxy and her new post was on Earth. She did not know what to do and anyway he hadn’t asked her to stay with him. It all seemed so complicated now as she thought about it. Far more complicated than it seemed when they were lying together in bed or walking hand in hand across the moor or sitting under a tree in the woods reading. At times like this it seemed so simple.

As she stood in the garden looking out over the highlands of Caldos lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t hear Jean Luc come up behind her. He slipped his arms around her and kissed the back of her neck. She leaned back against him and sighed.

“What are we going to do Jean Luc?” she asked.

There was a long pause before she heard him speak.

“What do you want Beverly?” he replied turning her round to face him and looking into her eyes. “If you tell me I will do everything in my power to make it so.”

She closed her eyes and leaned in towards him and kissed him softly.

“I want to stay with you forever and never leave your side. I am just not sure that they will let us be” she finally said.

Jean Luc took her hand and they walked back towards the house. They sat down on the bench just near the door and he put his arm around her. She leaned into him and they sat in comfortable silence. 

Then she heard the words she had longed to hear from the first night they had spent together. He spoke quietly into her ear. It was just a whisper.

“Beverly, there is a simple answer to this problem. The answer is this my love. Marry me.”

She turned to look at him and he spoke again “My heart, my soul, marry me.”

She whispered back her answer and just like that everything fell into place.

The following day they were married. Jean Luc had not wasted any time in speaking to the colony’s superintendent who had agreed to perform the ceremony. It had been a brief affair with just five people present including the bride and groom. Jean Luc had asked her if she wanted to wait until they returned to Earth. He was worried that she might want a large ceremony and regret rushing things. But Beverly didn’t care about any of that. She said they had frittered away too many years as it was and she didn’t want to wait any longer. If he was certain then she was certain and they should be married as soon as possible.

Afterwards they had walked back to the house through the woods. It was a beautiful day. The sunlight fell in dappled patches along the path and a slight breeze rustled through the trees. The leaves were just beginning to fall and the autumn air had little chill to it. As they strolled hand in hand along the path they spoke quietly of what the future might bring. They had thought about it and agreed on a course of action. Beverly would take up her post at Starfleet Medical. Jean Luc had insisted upon this. Her career was important and she should not give it up to follow him. He would go on one last mission and inform Starfleet that he would finally take up the post at the academy that they had been trying to entice him with for years. 

For the rest of the day they finished packing up the house. Beverly had asked the superintendent to find new tenants for it. What was left of her Nana’s things would be taken back to Earth on the next transporter ship that arrived at the colony. Jean Luc made a light supper as Beverly tried to send a message to Wesley and also to Starfleet Medical to let them know when she would be arriving back. The journey home would take several days even at warp speed.

They ate in the kitchen by candlelight and when they were finished he cleared away as she went upstairs. It wasn’t long before he heard the sound of the bath running. He turned, blew out the candles and then set off up the stairs to find his wife.

She was lying back in the warm water, her eyes closed. The gentle lamplight in the bathroom caught the subtle golden highlights in her hair. Her shoulders were sticking up a little out of the water and he could see the freckles on her skin that he loved so much. Her beauty took his breath away as he stood in the doorway watching her.

She opened one eye and smiled.

“Jean Luc, why don’t you get in?” she said and she closed her eye again.

He smiled and began to undress. As he walked over to her she leaned forward sliding along the bath to make room for him behind her. He put his legs on either side of her and lowered himself into the water. She leaned back against him and he put his arms around her. They lay in silence for a while with the water and soapsuds lapping against them. Then she opened her eyes and sat forward. Reaching for a sponge she passed it over her shoulder and waited for him to take it. He began to gently rub the soap filled sponge in a circular motion on her back and then he squeezed the warm water to rinse her skin. She shuddered as the water flowed down her back.

She carefully spun around with her legs bent up under her chin and then settled herself facing him, her legs around him as he moved forwards towards her. Taking the sponge from him she began to wash his shoulders and chest. He inched closer to her and then leaned forward and kissed her pulling her to him and lifting her slightly up out of the water. He kissed and caressed her breasts and when he entered her she sighed and closed her eyes. They moved together in perfect timing so attuned now were they to each other and as they spiralled upwards towards oblivion they both cried out at the same time then shuddered to a finish.

Afterwards, when they were dry he picked her up and carried her to the bed. The covers were already pulled back. He gently put her down and then climbed in bed beside her. They pulled up the covers and lay back in each other’s arms.

Finally she spoke. 

“Promise me Jean Luc. Promise me that when you go, you will come back.”

“Always” he whispered into her ear and then smiling they both closed their eyes and slept.

**Author's Note:**

> All characters etc belong to Paramount, I'm just playing with them for a bit.


End file.
